Written by Ruth Merttens

Illustrated by Anne Holm Petersen

Once upon a time there was a grasshopper and an ant.

They lived in a wonderful meadow.

Each summer morning, Grasshopper climbed up her blade of grass.

Once at the top, she started to sing.

Her singing was fantastic. She sung with her legs, rubbing them together to create beautiful music.

Grasshopper sang all through the long summer days.

Lots of creatures stopped to listen.

Meanwhile, Ant was busy all summer.

She collected food and rolled it back to her little house in the leaves.

Sometimes, when the sound of Grasshopper’s singing reached her, she paused.

But then she told herself to keep going. “There’s work to be done!” she said.

Slowly the summer passed. Now, some days were rainy.

Grasshopper kept singing, although sometimes she moved down her blade of grass to be sheltered from the strong winds.

Now all the creatures were finding their holes and their winter homes.

No-one stopped to listen to Grasshopper.

The meadow was cold and empty.

One night, it snowed. There was ice on every blade of grass.

Grasshopper was so cold and hungry. She knew she needed a house.

Then she remembered Ant. Ant’s home would be warm and she would have food.

Grasshopper hurried to Ant’s house. She knocked on the door.

Ant came to the door.

“Please Ant, I am so cold and hungry. I will die out here,” pleaded Grasshopper. “Please may I come and shelter in your house.”

Ant looked at Grasshopper. “All summer long I worked hard,” she said.

“I collected food and stored it.”

Grasshopper stared at Ant. But Ant went on talking. “I made my home nice for winter. What did you do

all summer, Grasshopper?”

Grasshopper shivered. She was so cold.“I sang all summer,” she replied.

“You heard me. All the creatures heard me. I was singing.”

Ant shook her head. “Okay,” she said. “You sang all summer,” she started to shut her door, “so sing now.”

Sounds and letters/c/ as c, /t/ as t, /a/ as a/d/ as d, /g/ as g, /o/ as o/m/ as m, /n/ as n/i/ as i, /s/ as s and ss/u/ as u, /r/ as r /h/ as h, /l/ as l and ll/e/ as e, /b/ as b/f/ as f and ff, /sh/ as sh/p/ as p, /c/ as k and ck /ee/ as y, /p/ as pp (+ mm, dd, rr, nn)/ee/ as ee, ea, e/w/ as w and wh*, /ch/ as ch /th/ as th, /ng/ as ng /tthh/ as th, /v/ as v and ve/oo/ as oo, u and oul/j/ as j, /ar/ as ar and a* /ou/ as ou, ow and ough/or/ as or, ore, aw and a /ay/ as ay, a-e, ai/ie/ as y, ie, i-e, i and igh/cw/ as qu/, /cs/ as x, /y/ as y/oa/ as ow, o, oa, oe and o-e /ooh/ as oo, ew, o/z/ as z, zz and s, /g/ as, gu and gh/er/ as er, ur, ir, ear and or/s/ as c, se and ce/j/ as g, ge and dge/l/ as le + tt, gg, bb/ue/ as ew, u-e and u/ch/ as tch, /oy/ as oi, oy

Code-Breakers Extended Texts ~ Book 3©2018 William Rowan Hamilton Trust www.hamilton-trust.org.ukRegistered Charity no. 1150524.